Image source, Getty Images

At least 14 figure skaters were on board the passenger plane that collided with a US army helicopter on Wednesday - here's some more detail on them.

Spencer Lane, 16, and his mother Christine Lane, were both on the flight. Spencer's father Douglas tells local media his son was "a force of nature" who showed "drive and tenacity" to the sport.

Jinna Han, 13, and her mother Jin Han are also confirmed to have died in the crash.

Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, Russian ice skating coaches were also killed in the crash, the Kremlin confirmed. They leave behind their 24-year-old son, Max, who followed his parents into figure skating.

Cory Haynos was travelling home from the US Ice Skating Championships with his parents, Roger Haynos and Stephanie Branton Haynos, a family member wrote on social media. Roger's cousin, Matthew Alan LaRavier, says he had "absolute love for his family".

Inna Volyanskaya - a former skater for the Soviet Union - was also on board the flight, according to Russian news agency Tass.

Alexandr Sasha Kirsanov, a former coach was on board the plane, the University of Delaware says. His wife told ABC News she had "lost everything".

Twelve-year-old Olivia Ter from Maryland was among the US figure skaters aboard the flight, local officials confirmed.

• For more on who the victims of the fatal plane and helicopter crash are, we have this piece with more details about them

Image source, FACEBOOK/CARRIE EAVES

The identities of two of the three people onboard the Black Hawk involved in the collision have been named, the identity of the third person is not yet known.

Pilot Andrew Eaves from Mississippi has been named by his wife, Carrie, as one of the victims on the helicopter. She asks for "peace while we grieve."

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves says the state "is mourning the loss of Brooksville native Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves." For context, a chief warrant officer provides leadership and training in their specialty.

Ryan O'Hara, 29, was the crew chief of the Black Hawk helicopter according to CBS News.

He leaves behind a wife and one-year-old son, his Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) group says in a social media post confirming his death.

Image source, Howard University

We can now bring you the identities of some of the passengers on board the fatal plane crash.

Kiah Duggins, a Howard University Professor, is among the victims of Wednesday's crash, president of the university, Ben Vinson III, says. He says the news of her death comes with "profound sadness".

Sarah Lee Best, 33, and Elizabeth Keys, 33, both lawyers from the same firm, lost their lives in the fatal crash. Elizabeth's partner David Siedman tells The Washington Post that she died on her birthday, while Sarah's husband Daniel Solomon says she was "kind and hardworking".

Casey Crafton, "dedicated father" from Salem, Connecticut, was on board the passenger plane involved in the fatal crash, Governor Ned Lamont wrote on social media.

Asra Hussain Raza, 26, had moved to the Washington DC area from Indiana after receiving a master's degree in hospital management. Her husband says she was "returning from a work trip where she was helping to improve a hospital."

Michael Stovall was travelling home from an annual hunting trip with his friends, his mother Christina told Wink News. His cousin told the New York Times he was flying with at least six of his friends from the trip.

Jesse Pitcher was amongst those travelling with Michael Stovall, his father Jameson Pitcher told the New York Times. Jesse got married last year and his father says "he was just getting started with life".

Earlier, we reported that Philippine National Police confirmed that Colonel Pergentino Malabed was on board the plane. A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry also told AFP that two Chinese nationals were among the victims - they have not yet been named.

The captain of the American Airlines flight involved in the fatal crash has been named as Jonathan Campos.

Epic Flight Academy wrote in a post on Facebook that "he was a skilled and dedicated pilot with an undeniable passion for flying".

Sam Lilley has been named as the second pilot on the American Airlines flight, his father Timothy tells Fox 5 News Atlanta.

"This is undoubtedly the worst day of my life," he told the news channel, after realising his son was one of the pilots on the flight.

Ian Epstein was a flight attendant on the plane, his family said, adding that he was known for his ability to make people smile and was "full of life".

"He loved being a flight attendant because he truly enjoyed traveling and meeting new people. But his true love was his family," the statement continued.

Danasia Elder was also working as a flight attendant onboard the flight, her family have told US media.

Her brother-in-law Brandon Payne paid tribute to her, calling her "full of life". "She was a great wife, a great parent, a great friend," Payne added.

Image source, FACEBOOK/DEBI EPSTEIN

Matt Spivey
Live page editor

In our next few posts, we're going to bring you the latest information we have about some of the crew and passengers who were on board both the American Airlines flight and the US army helicopter, which collided on Wednesday night.

We know already that all 64 people on the passenger plane, and the three on the helicopter, have been killed as a result of the crash. Recovery efforts have been paused due to difficult conditions in the Potomac River, with 28 bodies so far recovered.

The identities of some of those on board have either been confirmed through official channels - such as the Philippine National Police (PNP) saying one of its officers was travelling on the American Airlines flight - or are being heavily reported by US media.

It's those names that you'll see on this page shortly.

As always with a moving situation like this, details are emerging all the time which means it can be hard to keep track of. We'll keep bringing you the latest updates, explainers and analysis right here, as soon as we get them. Stay with us.

Was either plane off course? And did the helicopter's pilot see the aircraft he would eventually collide with?

Did an automated warning sound for both pilots in the moments before the incident - and would we expect civilian planes and military helicopters share the airspace above Washington DC?

Here Ros Atkins explores the questions surrounding the crash.

Image source, Getty Images

In a press conference yesterday, US President Donald Trump blamed diversity initiatives at the Federal Aviation Administration for the deadly crash that occurred over Washington DC, without providing evidence.

Trump suggested that the hiring guidance for the FAA’s diversity and inclusion programme included preferences for those with disabilities involving "hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism".

According to the BBC’s US partner CBS News, the hiring programme has been a longstanding FAA policy - including before, during and after Trump’s first term.

But, the FAA has a range of roles beyond air traffic controllers, and its website doesn’t indicate that hires from diversity schemes would necessarily be working in air traffic controller positions.

And, in response to criticisms over diversity hiring practices last year, the agency released a statement asserting that all new hires must meet "rigorous qualifications" that "vary by position".

Trump, when asked by a reporter why he felt that diversity initiatives were to blame, the president replied: “Because I have common sense.”

• For more on this story, BBC's North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher has this piece: Combative Trump blames diversity policies after air tragedy

As we've been reporting, recovery teams have been searching debris from the jet and helicopter crash in the Potomac River, which has now been paused due to difficult conditions.

Three counties in Virginia, neighbouring Washington DC, have issued warnings against people touching any debris found from the crash wreckage

Fairfax, Alexandria and Prince George counties say that if items or debris are found in the water or on the shore, people should not touch or remove them, but instead call 911 to report the finding.

"Following this guidance is critical to supporting the impacted families and investigation," a post on X says, on behalf of Prince George County.

Image source, Reuters

The runway at Reagan National Airport where the American Airlines plane was due to land before the crash has been closed until next week, the Federal Aviation Authority has announced.

As we've been reporting, American Airlines flight 5342 collided with a US Army helicopter above the Potomac River, near Washington DC, as it approached runway 33.

That runway has now been closed until 7 February, the FAA says.

We can bring you details now of some of those on board the American Airlines flight that collided with a US army helicopter above the Potomac River near Washington DC on Wednesday night.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) have confirmed that a Filipino police officer was on board the plane. As a reminder, all 64 people on the regional jet and the three military crew were killed in the crash.

In a press conference, the head of PNP's public information office, Randulf Tuaño, confirmed the loss of Colonel Pergentino Malabed - the chief of the supply management division for PNP.

Tuaño says Malabed was "fulfilling his duty as a dedicated police officer" at the time of the crash.

"His untimely passing is a profound loss," Tuaño says. "His contribution will never be forgotten, may he rest in peace."

Two Chinese nationals were also among the victims, according to a statement from a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, news agency AFP reports.

"China expresses deep condolences to the victims and extends sincere sympathies to the bereaved families," the spokesperson said.

Merlyn Thomas
BBC North America correspondent

It's incredibly cold here, and I'm looking at the icy black Potomac River where the aircraft still remains. The search has been called off because the conditions are too difficult for the divers to operate in.

We heard about some of these difficulties from the president of the Fire Fighters Association here in DC, he told CNN how the divers are contending with the wreckage.

He said that some of the divers wetsuits have been cut by the debris. It's a reminder that they are still working through the wreckage in order to find the remaining bodies.

Overnight, there are boats which are here to secure the site and carry out some surface level searches.

We have reports that they have recovered the two data recorders from the plane, which have been taken to be analysed and processed.

That will take some time, but hopefully they will provide some clues as to what happened in this fatal crash.

There will be a preliminary report in 30 days, but that might be too long for the families who are waiting to find out what happened in this crash.

We've seen some questions being reported in US media around potential causes, including claims that there was a staffing shortage at Regan airport at the time.

But investigators have been keen to emphasise that they still do not have any cause for this crash and they are still investigating all aspects of it.

Image source, Getty Images

We've been learning a bit more about some of the passengers on the crashed American Airlines flight, including Russian former skating stars Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.

The pair were coaches at a club in Boston.

They won the world championships in 1994 and went on to compete at the Winter Olympics before taking coaching roles in the US.

They leave behind their 24-year-old son, Max, who followed his parents into figure skating.

The Russian embassy in Washington says US authorities have expressed their "readiness to help" with the repatriation of their remains.

Inna Volyanskaya - a former skater for the Soviet Union - was also on board the flight, according to Russian news agency Tass.

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

US President Donald Trump told reporters yesterday that the country was in mourning and shared his condolences during "an hour of anguish" as he paid tribute to first responders and the victims of the air crash.

Then he sharply pivoted - providing yet another reminder of how his new presidency is going to be very different; combative, unscripted, and quick to point the finger of blame.

"We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas," he said.

He then speculated that changing standards of hiring for air traffic controllers in the Federal Aviation Administration during the Biden and Obama presidencies may have been a factor in the disaster.

But it's unclear how that drive to make recruitment more diverse may have impacted the ranks of air traffic controllers, who Trump said needed to all be "naturally talented geniuses". The FAA has more than 35,000 employees, only a fraction of which perform that role.

• You can read more about Trump's take on the crash here

Just 24 hours before the deadly mid-air collision over the Potomac, another jet had to abort its landing at Reagan National Airport after a helicopter came close to its flight path, according to air traffic control audio.

The incident - which has been reported by both the Washington Post and CNN - occured when Republic Airways Flight 4514 was approaching the airport's runway 19 on Tuesday night, when air traffic control warned of a nearby helicopter.

“There’s a helicopter over Georgetown [a district of Washington DC], northbound at 300ft,” the controller informed the flight, according to audio from LiveATC.net.

Within moments, the commercial jet initiated a right turn away from Reagan National Airport, data from FlightAware, a flight tracking site, shows.

“We had an RA, Brickyard 4514 is going around,” the pilot can be heard saying, referring to a Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) resolution advisory.

The jet returned to land at Reagan National Airport at 20:11 local time on Tuesday.

Officials have recovered the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, known as the black boxes, from the American Airlines plane following Wednesday night's crash.

The black boxes can help to offer clues about what happened on the flight.

The voice recorder does what it says - capturing the pilots' conversations, background noise and interactions with air traffic control.

The data recorder logs operational data from the aircraft's systems, down to the position of certain switches and levers as well as the pilots' inputs.

As we reported earlier, the black boxes for the crashed Bombardier regional jet were recovered from the wreckage on Thursday evening.

We can now bring you pictures of these devices, which could offer crucial clues into what went wrong on Wednesday night above the Potomac River.

Image source, NTSB

Image source, NTSB

Image source, NTSB

At 21:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday, a PSA Airlines jet which was on the approach to Washington's Reagan National airport collided mid-air with a US army helicopter.

On Wednesday:

• Moments before the collision, air traffic control recordings show the helicopter pilot was warned about the plane in the seconds before the collision

• The Bombardier CRJ passenger jet, which was operating an American Airlines service, broke into multiple pieces and sunk several feet into the Potomac River. The helicopter landed upside down in the water

• First responders were immediately sent to the scene, with fireboats scouring for survivors and divers entering the icy river

On Thursday:

• The National Transportation Safety Board began an investigation into the incident

• At a press conference, US President Donald Trump blamed diversity and inclusion practices for the crash, despite having no evidence for that

• Officials recovered the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, known as the black boxes, from the American Airlines plane

• In the afternoon, divers paused operations as the conditions became too dangerous

• DC Fire said on X that it had searched all accessible areas of the crash site

• Officials say there are no remaining survivors - 67 people were on the two aircraft and 27 bodies have been recovered from the plane and one from the helicopter

Image source, US Coast Guard/EPA

Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

Image source, NTSB

Black boxes for a commercial flight that collided with a military helicopter above Washington DC have been located, as investigators look for the cause of the fatal event that left all 67 passengers dead.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says a preliminary report will be issued in 30 days - we should get a clearer picture then on how and why the crash happened.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump yesterday told reporters he does not know what led to the collision, but said he has some “very strong opinions and ideas”.

He then speculated, without evidence, that diversity policies may have been a factor in the crash - our North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher has more on Trump's combative press conference.

There have also been questions about air traffic control staffing levels at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport, which were reported to be “not normal” by an initial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report.

Now, as the recovery operation continues today, 27 bodies have so far been retrieved from the plane and one from the helicopter.

Authorities are yet to confirm which of the passengers’ bodies have been found, but relatives and friends of figure skaters who were travelling from Wichita have shared their heartbreak at the loss.

We’re restarting our live coverage this morning, so stick with us as we fill you in on what happened yesterday, and we’ll also bring you any updates from officials on the search for answers.

Image source, Getty Images

Around 24 hours after the Washington DC plane crash that is believed to have killed 67 people, divers are pausing their search and recovery efforts in the Potomac River due to dangerous conditions in the water.

Investigators have still not named a cause for the incident.

Here's what we did learn on Thursday:

• Officials say there are no survivors from the mid-air collision that involved 64 people on an American Airlines flight from Kansas and 3 US Army soldiers in a Back Hawk helicopter
• The plane's black boxes have been recovered from the water - recorders from the cockpit that could offer clues about the cause of the crash
• Trump blamed diversity rules under his predecessors, saying - without evidence - he believes people hired for air traffic control roles were not qualified
• Multiple agencies are looking into multiple factors that could have played a role in the crash, according to investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

We are pausing our live coverage of this crash for now. You can follow the latest updates below:

• Black boxes found as officials examine staffing shortage in DC plane crash
• In one of the 'most controlled' airspaces, how could crash happen?
• US and Russian figure skaters were on board crashed plane
• Combative Trump blames diversity policies after air tragedy

Divers have now searched all accessible areas of the Potomac River crash site, DC Fire said in a post on X, confirming US media reports we cited earlier.

Additional searches to "locate aircraft components" in order to support the ongoing investigation and "begin operations to salvage the aircraft" will begin on Friday, the statement added.

Boats will remain at the scene overnight for security and to facilitate "surface searches" by state and federal authorities.